Born in Naples on July 28, 1941, Riccardo Muti is one of the greatest conductors
of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The son of a doctor and a Neapolitan
singer, he studied violin at the age of 8, then piano at the San Pietro a
Majella conservatory in Naples, after spending his childhood on the Adriatic
coast in Molfetta, near Bari. After studying philosophy, he took up composition
with Nino Rota and conducting at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, with
composer Bruno Bettinelli and conductor Antonio Votto. After passing the first
round of the Guido Cantelli Competi...